“That’s why you don’t leave it to the judges, I guess,” she said. “I do think I could’ve won that fight, for sure, and a lot of other people have told me the same, but it’s just par for the course. It’s just how things go. You have good judges, you have bad judges, you have wins and losses, but at the end of the day, I think I put on a good performance, and I showed I was a promising prospect. I’m in the UFC, and I know records and wins and losses matter, but I want to put on a show, and I think that’s kind of what happened. I showcased my skill, and especially from the first fight, they saw the improvement there, and that’s all I’m trying to do is be a better me every time.”
While the result wasn’t what she wanted, the bout was important to Hansen for another reason. It was the first bout with the crew from Classic Fight Team in her corner. Hansen dubbed Tyler Wombles, Joe Murphy and Erica Rodriguez as a “perfect” squad to prepare her for her sophomore appearance although she admitted to some nerves about the situation before the fight.
Feeling at home with Classic Fight Team, Hansen went back to work and had her third fight booked against Cheyanne Buys, another young strawweight prospect. For medical reasons, though, Hansen pulled out of the fight but is working with the UFC Performance Institute and hopes to get back to competition later this year.
That leaves her time to hone her ever-improving skill set. She holds high-belief in her capacity for excellence, but she also knows she needs to test that in the fires of competition before she is able to hone those abilities when she needs to call upon them.
“It’s crazy to me because the Kay in the gym and the potential I know I have, I haven’t even shown a little bit of her when it comes to fighting,” she said. “I feel like I have so much more to learn. I have experienced a lot in the cage. I’ve been thrown around. I’ve won. I’ve lost close decisions, I’ve won close decisions. I’ve kind of experienced it all. I’ve been cut, bloodied, bruised. I think I’m a vet in that sense, but in the sense of peaking for myself and my performance, I think I’m way far off. That just comes with building my confidence and building my confidence in my newer skills in the gym.
“I could be a UFC champion right now, but it’s just transferring that to the cage, which now I think in my next fight and next fight and next fight, every fight, you’re going to see a better Kay.”